Today’s feast of Mark the Evangelist interrupts the ongoing
cycle of Easter readings. But our visiting of the First Letter of
Peter offers a perspective on the Easter mystery as lived—then
and now.

“Be sober and vigilant.” These warning words acquaint
us with the truth that Christian life provides no guarantee of a
life lived without struggle. They are a warning that the good news
of Jesus’ resurrection, the heart of the “gospel,”
strikes some hearts as “bad news” and those hearts react
to the news not with joy but with the persecution of believers.
Yet, the message of this First Letter of Peter drives home the point:
such persecution is to be expected. If Jesus himself was rejected,
so those who believe in him will suffer rejection.

“Be sober and vigilant.” How shall we live this sobriety
and vigilance? Alone and in fear? With hand-wringing? Waiting for
the “shoe to drop,” waiting for the inevitable? The
answer of the First Letter of Peter is: live in solidarity. “Your
brothers and sisters throughout the world undergo the same sufferings.”

Today, through the medium of these online reflections, we might
imagine that we are in solidarity with hundreds, perhaps thousands
of Christians throughout the world. Each one of them has experienced
or will experience the truth proposed by First Peter. Each lives
with sobriety and vigilance. Perhaps those experiencing today the
consolation of faith might consciously pray for those experiencing
some form of harassment or persecution. Those suffering with Jesus
today might consciously pray to receive the grace of consolation
flowing to them through the prayers of brothers and sisters throughout
the world.

Let us be sober and vigilant. But let us be in solidarity with
one another.